I've read the Odyssey a few times before, and I never much liked Odysseus. I still don't, even though I still enjoy reading about him.
It's probably my wildly different moral/social compass, but I find it hard to really sympathize with Odysseus after he leaves Troy. The first thing he recalls in Book IX after the war ends is going to Ismarus, where he and his men proceed to "sack the town and put the people to the sword." They shamelessly steal the town's resources and their wives; when they leave, their only worry is their dead comrades, like it wasn't their fault that they died in the first place.
It's hard to really appreciate a guy who leads expeditions like that, especially as he's just coming back from another war. And I can appreciate that my values/priorities are very different to the ones of the Odyssey's contemporary audience; I feel like I should put my modern qualms aside and try to admire Odysseus as an ancient hero who is brave, intelligent, and, I suppose, honorable.
But it's really, really hard to appreciate this guy as a hero sometimes.
PS I commented on Sydni Holm's post.
I totally agree. I prefer a kind, self-sacrificing hero, not someone that I would most definitely not agree with or vote for if he lived in modern times. But he was obviously viewed as the apex of manly goodness back in his day so who am I to judge? It's interesting to think about how much our society and the world that we live in can so drastically alter how we view the world. Even down to our perception of the 'hero'.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement. I found that I was appalled by the things this ancient society seemed to praise. These kings were driven by their desire to lay siege and gain riches. I chose to view their actions as a reminder of the condition of sinful man. As I read, I kept this in mind so as to not be too critical of these warriors.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that even though we all disagree with the idea of Odysseus being a hero, he somehow still shapes our views of what heroes today should be. Of course, the modern hero is typically very humble and loyal, many of his attributes are still based off of the "epic hero". Some things never change, I suppose.
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